1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to storing and playing audio and/or video content, such as full-length motion pictures, and particularly concerns systems and methods utilizing distributed storage of such content in the context of a bank of networked playing devices.
2. Description of the Related Art
Various conventional devices exist for playing stored programs or works. that include audio and/or video content. Such devices include CD players, videocassette players, DVD players, film-based movie projectors and, more recently, digital movie projectors. Most of such devices play audio/video content directly from a portable storage medium (e.g., a CD, videocassette film reel or DVD), sometimes after a limited amount of buffering. Others utilize internal or external storage devices, such as hard disk drives, into which the content is loaded before being played. In these latter devices, the work can be played from the external storage device, once again, typically after some amount of buffering.
When used, external storage devices may be directly connected to the player or may be connected via a network. The current thinking is that the use of a central networked storage device is preferred in connection with digital projectors, particularly in the context of digital projection cinemas.
Thus, the following approach has been proposed for implementing digital cinemas. A central server stores all movies to be played throughout the cinema and the individual players are connected via a network to the central server. When a movie is to be played by a particular digital projector, it is streamed to that projector on a real-time basis. This approach typically requires a high-capacity server and network, and has the further disadvantage that any failure of the network or the central server might shut down the entire theater.